skuzuker28
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2022
- Messages
- 13
Apologies in advance if this comes out a little scatter-brained! Background: much of my home roof is not ideal for solar due to shading from some trees, but I will be building one outbuilding this summer and it would be in a location that would not have the same shading issues. Outbuilding will be a storage shed, that I was also wanting to keep a deep freezer in. This was the structure that prompted going down the solar route, as running power to it would cost a good bit of money: not just for running cable from my house to the shed, but also due to the fact that my electrical panel would need to be upgraded. That being said an upgraded panel will almost certainly be in my future, so I want to keep future expandability in mind as I plan to have another outbuilding in the same area at some point (a home office in that case, but possibly a full ADU with additional panels) AND I want to be able to utilize my summer season over-production to supplement my grid power for my main residence.
Put another way:
STAGE 1 (Summer 2022): Full off-grid shed. For the size I am planning I would be able to fit 6 370 watt panels, for a total of 2220 nominal watts. That will be more than enough for what I estimate I will need for the shed itself (estimated at 1.2 kWh per day). I’d also have batteries to keep things going overnight. This will be my proof of concept to see if I can actually pull this off, in which case I would expand to…
STAGE 2 (TBD, later in 2022 or 2023 if office, longer if ADU): Add office/ADU outbuilding, probably with an additional 6 panels/2200 watts. Office/ADU would have some level of HVAC, so at this point I would also be upgrading my panel and running cable to the outbuildings. Since cable is being run and the panel changed out anyway, this is where I would also be looking to make provisions to supplement my home power consumption when I have excess power production in the summer, though I doubt I’d be pumping back into the grid.
STAGE 3 (TBD): Add panels to the roof of my home where it makes sense. I haven’t done any measuring of the area available, but at this point I’d want to have a grid-tie system since my state has good net-metering rules. However, I’d still want to have power available for essential loads should the grid go down.
If I give up on sending any power back to the house then I can just use one of the AIO units, with an eventual AC power in once the office/ADU is up and running. However, I find the idea of generating electricity that can’t be used where it’s needed to be distasteful. As I’m mentally thinking through how to design these systems, I’m seeing two paths forward:
I will freely admit that I have almost zero practical knowledge of solar system design, which is where I was hoping you all could help. Am I looking at this the right way? Are there other options to consider? I could also be making things WAY to complicated. Absolutely nothing has been purchased yet, not even the shed, so I’m wanting to make sure I get things right the first time. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Put another way:
STAGE 1 (Summer 2022): Full off-grid shed. For the size I am planning I would be able to fit 6 370 watt panels, for a total of 2220 nominal watts. That will be more than enough for what I estimate I will need for the shed itself (estimated at 1.2 kWh per day). I’d also have batteries to keep things going overnight. This will be my proof of concept to see if I can actually pull this off, in which case I would expand to…
STAGE 2 (TBD, later in 2022 or 2023 if office, longer if ADU): Add office/ADU outbuilding, probably with an additional 6 panels/2200 watts. Office/ADU would have some level of HVAC, so at this point I would also be upgrading my panel and running cable to the outbuildings. Since cable is being run and the panel changed out anyway, this is where I would also be looking to make provisions to supplement my home power consumption when I have excess power production in the summer, though I doubt I’d be pumping back into the grid.
STAGE 3 (TBD): Add panels to the roof of my home where it makes sense. I haven’t done any measuring of the area available, but at this point I’d want to have a grid-tie system since my state has good net-metering rules. However, I’d still want to have power available for essential loads should the grid go down.
If I give up on sending any power back to the house then I can just use one of the AIO units, with an eventual AC power in once the office/ADU is up and running. However, I find the idea of generating electricity that can’t be used where it’s needed to be distasteful. As I’m mentally thinking through how to design these systems, I’m seeing two paths forward:
- Build a micro-inverter based system. Combiner and controller would initially be in the shed, then moved to the house in Stage 2. Big downside is that it is more expensive, AND the combiner/controller are big-ticket items that need to be bought at the outset. If I do the shed and decide I’ve gotten in over my head, I’d end up with the most expensive shed system ever. I may also be tied to proprietary batteries? (uncertain on that point). The upside is better overall production, and it truly is modular. The combiner/controller should handle whatever size system I end up building, so that is a one-and-done cost. And when I start supplementing my home power needs I’ll be running AC power to the house rather than DC so less copper needed.
- Use string inverter/AIO units that can be paralleled. Maybe start with one of the inexpensive one for the shed, then replace with Sol-Ark should I expand. The Sol-Ark says it has AC coupling, does that mean I could connect it to the existing inverter in the outbuilding? Or would they both need to be Sol-Ark inverters for that to work? Upside: stage 1 would be much less expensive, and if that’s where I stop or otherwise give up on sending power to my house then I don’t have expensive components that I end up not utilizing to their potential. Downsides are solar production will be more sensitive to shading, and it could get REALLY expensive to step up to a home-supplementing and/or grid-tied system down the line as I’d need to replace the inverters.
I will freely admit that I have almost zero practical knowledge of solar system design, which is where I was hoping you all could help. Am I looking at this the right way? Are there other options to consider? I could also be making things WAY to complicated. Absolutely nothing has been purchased yet, not even the shed, so I’m wanting to make sure I get things right the first time. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
